Reporters Invited to Paws On Parole 25th Academy Graduation

~Inmate trained dog program at Gainesville Work Camp~

WHAT:

The graduation of the 25th Academy of the Paws on Parole (POP) program at Gainesville Work Camp.

The POP program brings together shelter dogs from Alachua County Animal Shelter with inmates from Gainesville Work Camp, who obedience-train them. The dogs who graduate earn the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. The graduating dogs are crate trained, housebroken, spayed/neutered, up-to-date on shots and micro-chipped. Paws on Parole also includes an Aftercare Network, which is a group that will work with adopting families and their dogs to help integrate the training the dogs received.

Reporters will have an opportunity to interview and photograph/film inmates and program participants.

The graduation takes place on March 1, 2013, at Gainesville Work Camp beginning at 9:00 a.m.

WHY:

Currently one of every three inmates released from the Florida prison system returns to prison within three years. Through programs like Paws on Parole, the Department of Corrections is focusing on teaching inmates viable job skills that will lead them to productive jobs and law-abiding lives upon release.

If you wish to attend the Paws on Parole graduation ceremony, please contact the Department of Corrections’ Communications Office at (850) 488-0420 several days before the scheduled graduation, as attendees will need to complete and submit aMedia Access Form.

To adopt a Paws on Parole graduate, contact Hilary Hynes, Public Education Program Coordinator, Alachua County Animal Services at (352) 264-6881.

Directions: From I-75 take Exit 390 (SR-222 East) approximately 12 miles. Cross the Waldo Road intersection and continue east for 2.5 miles. Turn right onto NE 27th, continue approximately one mile. Turn right onto SR 26. Continue approximately two miles. Turn right at Gainesville Work Camp sign into parking lot.

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As Florida's largest state agency, the Department of Corrections employs more than 25,000 members statewide, oversees more than 100,000 inmates and supervises nearly 120,000 offenders in the community.